<p>Lahore: Pakistan's former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday reaffirmed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif will become the prime minister for a record fourth time.</p><p>“I still stand by my words that Nawaz Sharif will become prime minister for the fourth time,” <em>Dawn News</em> quoted Shehbaz Sharif, the three-time former prime minister's younger brother, as saying at a press conference here</p><p>The 74-year-old leader first took power in 1990 but was forced out three years later by corruption allegations -- a theme that has dogged his career.</p><p>He came to power for the second time in 1997 and held the prime minister's post till 1999 when he was deposed in a military coup after plotting to sideline army chief of staff Pervez Musharraf.</p>.<p>More than a decade later he was back in power in 2013, but fresh graft allegations emerged when his children were named in the 2016 Panama Papers leak for holding offshore companies.</p><p>He was later convicted over separate corruption allegations and disqualified from office for life -- the third time that he failed to complete a full term.</p>.<p><strong>'Independents are free to form government, we will sit in oppn'</strong></p><p>Talking about the allegation of rigging in the recently concluded February 8 polls, Shehbaz said that in several areas PML-N stalwarts lost and independents won.</p><p>“In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the majority is of independent candidates […] does it mean they won through rigging? And in Sindh and Balochistan, there was no sign of independents,” he said.</p><p>“On behalf of my party, independents are free, if they want to make a government, go ahead. We will sit in the opposition and fulfill our role,” Shehbaz said.</p>.Pakistan polls: Forfeiting seat, Jamaat-i-Islami candidate says PTI-backed independent actual winner.<p>The PML-N President further said that after the party lost in 2018, it did not abuse anyone or hold any sit-ins.</p><p>“We went to Parliament with black armbands […] who doesn’t know that the election was stolen? We didn’t say we would set Parliament on fire or give the nation a message of civil disobedience,” he said. </p><p>Shehbaz said the next phase had begun after the polls and emphasised: “If they call themselves PTI-sponsored or non-PTI-sponsored - if they can form a government then they should. The president will not give them an invitation.”</p><p>“If they can show the majority [in the Assembly] then we will gladly sit in the opposition benches and play the constitutional role. If they cannot make a government, then obviously other political parties will decide with consensus and field a candidate. This is the constitutional way […] we need to move forward like this and finalise the upcoming phase,” said the former prime minister, who took power after cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan was ousted in a no-trust move in April 2022.</p>.Has Pakistan’s military finally lost its mystique?.<p>Independent candidates, mostly backed by Khan's PTI, won 101 seats in the 266-member National Assembly in the February 8 general elections. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's PML-N has won 75 seats and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto's PPP has won 54 seats.</p><p>The PTI-backed candidates ran as independents due to the party losing the election symbol of ‘bat’ following controversy surrounding its intra-party elections.</p><p>According to the party, the PTI was cruising with a lead of 170 National Assembly seats before the alleged rigging swung the pendulum in favour of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.</p>.<p><strong>'If people want to join PML-N, what is the problem?' says Shehbaz</strong> </p><p>Shehbaz also noted alleged rigging in past polls and asked: “Which election is there where allegations of rigging were not made?”</p><p> “On one hand there are allegations of rigging [but] then independents are winning and we are losing. This is contradictory,” he said.</p><p>“So please, elections have happened and it was proven that out of political parties, PML-N is the biggest party. If you count independents, then their number is greater - but in political parties, PML-N is number one,” he said.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, in a response to questions regarding inducting “turncoats” into the PML-N, Shehbaz said PTI hurled abuses at his party during its election campaign.</p><p>“Despite that, Nawaz Sharif said that PTI-backed independents should be given their constitutional right to form a government if they want to.</p><p>“But if people want to join the PML-N out of their own will, what is the problem in that?” he asked.</p><p>“In the name of God, in the name of Pakistan, we should show the world that we have learned our lesson […] and make Pakistan a country that was envisioned by Iqbal and Quaid,” the PML-N president said. </p>
<p>Lahore: Pakistan's former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday reaffirmed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif will become the prime minister for a record fourth time.</p><p>“I still stand by my words that Nawaz Sharif will become prime minister for the fourth time,” <em>Dawn News</em> quoted Shehbaz Sharif, the three-time former prime minister's younger brother, as saying at a press conference here</p><p>The 74-year-old leader first took power in 1990 but was forced out three years later by corruption allegations -- a theme that has dogged his career.</p><p>He came to power for the second time in 1997 and held the prime minister's post till 1999 when he was deposed in a military coup after plotting to sideline army chief of staff Pervez Musharraf.</p>.<p>More than a decade later he was back in power in 2013, but fresh graft allegations emerged when his children were named in the 2016 Panama Papers leak for holding offshore companies.</p><p>He was later convicted over separate corruption allegations and disqualified from office for life -- the third time that he failed to complete a full term.</p>.<p><strong>'Independents are free to form government, we will sit in oppn'</strong></p><p>Talking about the allegation of rigging in the recently concluded February 8 polls, Shehbaz said that in several areas PML-N stalwarts lost and independents won.</p><p>“In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the majority is of independent candidates […] does it mean they won through rigging? And in Sindh and Balochistan, there was no sign of independents,” he said.</p><p>“On behalf of my party, independents are free, if they want to make a government, go ahead. We will sit in the opposition and fulfill our role,” Shehbaz said.</p>.Pakistan polls: Forfeiting seat, Jamaat-i-Islami candidate says PTI-backed independent actual winner.<p>The PML-N President further said that after the party lost in 2018, it did not abuse anyone or hold any sit-ins.</p><p>“We went to Parliament with black armbands […] who doesn’t know that the election was stolen? We didn’t say we would set Parliament on fire or give the nation a message of civil disobedience,” he said. </p><p>Shehbaz said the next phase had begun after the polls and emphasised: “If they call themselves PTI-sponsored or non-PTI-sponsored - if they can form a government then they should. The president will not give them an invitation.”</p><p>“If they can show the majority [in the Assembly] then we will gladly sit in the opposition benches and play the constitutional role. If they cannot make a government, then obviously other political parties will decide with consensus and field a candidate. This is the constitutional way […] we need to move forward like this and finalise the upcoming phase,” said the former prime minister, who took power after cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan was ousted in a no-trust move in April 2022.</p>.Has Pakistan’s military finally lost its mystique?.<p>Independent candidates, mostly backed by Khan's PTI, won 101 seats in the 266-member National Assembly in the February 8 general elections. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's PML-N has won 75 seats and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto's PPP has won 54 seats.</p><p>The PTI-backed candidates ran as independents due to the party losing the election symbol of ‘bat’ following controversy surrounding its intra-party elections.</p><p>According to the party, the PTI was cruising with a lead of 170 National Assembly seats before the alleged rigging swung the pendulum in favour of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.</p>.<p><strong>'If people want to join PML-N, what is the problem?' says Shehbaz</strong> </p><p>Shehbaz also noted alleged rigging in past polls and asked: “Which election is there where allegations of rigging were not made?”</p><p> “On one hand there are allegations of rigging [but] then independents are winning and we are losing. This is contradictory,” he said.</p><p>“So please, elections have happened and it was proven that out of political parties, PML-N is the biggest party. If you count independents, then their number is greater - but in political parties, PML-N is number one,” he said.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, in a response to questions regarding inducting “turncoats” into the PML-N, Shehbaz said PTI hurled abuses at his party during its election campaign.</p><p>“Despite that, Nawaz Sharif said that PTI-backed independents should be given their constitutional right to form a government if they want to.</p><p>“But if people want to join the PML-N out of their own will, what is the problem in that?” he asked.</p><p>“In the name of God, in the name of Pakistan, we should show the world that we have learned our lesson […] and make Pakistan a country that was envisioned by Iqbal and Quaid,” the PML-N president said. </p>